Shia Muslims and Christians mourn Imam Hussain together in Iraq

The Christians persecuted by hardliner Sunnis (inspired by Inbne Tamyia and Abdul Wahhab Takfirism, with Turkish and Saudi Support) in Iraq have found a safe haven. It’s in the shrine of first Shia Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib that Christians find a refuge secure from their perpetrators. Gulf and Western powers -which did not give a damn about the Alawites, Christians and the Shia minorities in Syria who face hounding and daily slaughters from Sunni militants-, had no trouble in sacrificing the Christians of Iraq. Shifting sands being backed by Gulf powers throughout the Middle East have seen both Shias and Christians mercilessly persecuted. In Syria the Shia Militia Hezbollah has been the savior for Christians. In Lebanon Hezbollah has been a close ally of Christians General Michel Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).

The Coptic Christians in Egypt -sidelined because America only cares about Camp David and protecting Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey at all costs throughout the Middle East- also suffered along with Shias when the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt began to focus on taking over the political machinery and showed sectarian discrimination towards the minority Christian and Shia communities. In fact, even as influential Gulf nations are free to spread militant Salafi Islam throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia; it is profusely clear that not one single non-Muslim place of worship is allowed in Saudi Arabia and apostates face death. This truth underscores the downfall of Christianity within major Western nations and that secular governments mind little when it comes to religious freedom. Therefore, it is now the turn of the Christians of Iraq to realize that they have been abandoned abroad at the drop of a hat because just like their coreligionists in Syria they are dispensable. When al-Qaeda associates and the ISIS are involved in destroying Christian churches, kidnapping Christian bishops, and cleansing Christians in Syria and Iraq; then only Shias have stood up for their defense. Shias clearly believe that these acts of barbarity do not represent in any way a struggle for freedom, but rather terrorist acts committed by hate-filled, malicious terrorists who feed on the blood of innocents and the lives of civilians. Such brutal terrorism cannot be justified under the pretext of seeking to oust any regime. The fact that Shias never resorted to such acts when they were systematically and ruthlessly persecuted under Saddam Hussein shows the difference between the two major philosophies in Islam.